Populism and crisis: evidence from the periphery of Europe

This article explores the interplay between populism and crisis from a comparative perspective. While the dominant literature largely takes crisis for granted, and thus neglects its underlying nature, we undertake a detailed investigation of the crisis of representation in Turkey and the 2009 Greek crisis. Adapting Benjamin Moffitt’s model of the populist performance of crisis to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) (Turkey) and Tsipras’ Syriza (Greece), we argue, first, that the ideological core of populist parties plays a crucial role in almost all stages of the populist performance of crisis. Second, we show that structural political–economic conditions put certain limits on the populist performance of crisis. Finally, we suggest that Moffitt’s model needs to be revised in light of our findings.